REEL LIFE COLLECTIVE 

THE HOME OF CREATIVE COLLABORATORS 

REEL LIFE COLLECTIVE  

Reel Life Collective is an independent creative production company which creates opportunities for filmmakers, performers and emerging talent to collaborate, grow and reach their full potential. 

OUR VISION

Our vision is to bring stories from the page to the screen by developing novels into films — starting with VOLATILE, a gripping, hard-hitting crime thriller by Cliff Don.

VOLATILE THE BOOK

VOLATILE is a fast paced action-packed crime thriller set mainly on the streets of London. It revolves around a deadly stolen bag. This opens up the corrupt underworlds of white collared crime, government corruption, black and white British gangsters and the wrath of the new breed of Jamaican Yardies.

The story unfolds when Tommy Benzeno is found brutally murdered, London’s criminal underworld and the highest levels of government are thrown into chaos. A stolen bag with a hidden secret sparks a relentless chain of betrayal, revenge, and violence that cuts through the city’s shadows, leaving no one untouched.

From the streets of Enfield, Edmonton and Tottenham to the high-rise safe houses, in the city of London and from shadowy warehouse confrontations to the dimly lit corridors of MI5 and MI6, where rogue agents, ruthless gangsters, and law enforcement collide in a race against time. Every decision is lethal, every alliance fragile, and one wrong move could ignite a chain reaction that changes everything.

Secrets long buried will surface. Loyalties will be tested. Lives will be lost. And only the smartest, fastest, and most ruthless will survive.

Fast. Brutal. Cinematic. Unforgettable.

This is London like you’ve never seen it before and a thriller you won’t be able to put down.

OWN THE BOOK AUDITION FOR THE FILM 

Anyone with a copy of VOLATILE can come along to the auditions and audition for any character they believe they can play. And that is just for supporting us. 

We are looking for actors, singers, DJs, rappers and other emerging performers who want the opportunity to become part of the making of the film.

At this stage, this is an opportunity to gain experience and be part of the journey rather than a paid role. 

Successful participants will receive on-screen title or visual credits and the opportunity to gain valuable experience working as part of a film production team. 

Read the book. Choose your character. Email your choice. Come to the audition. You could become part of the film.

VOLATILE - CHAPTER ONE 

One

The day was cold and windy as JJ drove down Tottenham High Street, on his mobile phone.  “What did I say to you, Calum?” He shouted into the hand set, in a raw Jamaican accent, as he glanced at his wristwatch while he passed the McDonald’s at Bruce Grove.

  “Just bring the other half a kilo of the weed down to Jerry’s for me and tell him, I’ll bring the rest of it down to him later, okay?”

  “Okay.” Calum replied, in a calm and calculated tone of voice while, rolling his eyes to the high heavens, at JJ’s attitude as he continued playing his computer game.

  As JJ neared the Santander bank on Tottenham High Street, he spotted Dallion walking ahead of him, laughing and joking on his phone as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

  Gradually, he eased his foot off of the accelerator, and the big, black, shiny Mercedes saloon slowly glided silently along the street.

  “Guess who’s walking in front of me?” He whispered barely audible into the phone.

  “Who…?” Calum asked only half paying attention.

  “Dallion.”

  “You lie…!” Calum exclaimed, momentarily forgetting the game.

  “For real rude boy,” JJ replied, his tone deadly serious.

  “I’m gonna take him now.”

  “Where? On the High Street?” Calum shouted back with shock and horror creeping into his voice.

  “No. He’s turning into St. Loys Road. I’ll deal with him there.”

  “Okay,” Calum responded, before JJ added sharply, “Call Yabba, drop off the weed to Jerry, and you and Yabba meet me back at the lock-up in about twenty minutes seen?”

  “Okay, JJ,” Calum said, quickly ending the call, and tossing the game console onto the bed, before grabbing his gun from the dresser, and sliding it into the front of his waistband, and bolting through the door.

  As JJ turned onto St. Loys Road and drove past Dallion, keeping his face shielded while tracking him through the rear-view mirror. Once a safe distance separated them, JJ pulled up, opened the boot, and adjusted the mirror to watch Dallion approaching.

  Dallion had no idea the danger looming just minutes behind him. He laughed into his phone, shouting humorously to the girl on the other end: “Aw, behave yourself, babe.” Another fit of contagious laughter bubbled out, making JJ smile grimly.

  As Dallion walked past the car, JJ opened the door and silently tailed him. Dallion stopped, tilted his fizzy drink to his mouth, and took a good drink of it, oblivious to JJ creeping up behind him.

  “Run and you’re dead,” JJ whispered, pressing the cold steel of his 38 special snub-nosed revolver against the back of Dallion’s neck.

  Dallion froze shock and fear replacing his laughter as he recognized JJ’s voice and felt the icy pressure of the gun. Slowly, he lowered his drink and turned to face him and then, in one sudden motion, blew the rest of the drink that was in his mouth forcefully, into JJ’s eyes.

  “Arrrrrrrrrrr!” JJ cried out in shock as he instantly closed his eyes and covered them with his hands.  Sizing the opportunity, Dallion quickly clenched his fists and gave JJ a good right hook to the chin before running for his life.

  JJ took the punch well, although his knees buckled from the shock and power. Still taken aback, dazed, and temporarily blinded, JJ frantically wiped the stinging liquid out of his eyes with both hands. And with mind and vision massively impaired, he started to give chase after Dallion while simultaneously pushing the gun hastily back into his waistband;  

  Dallion sprinted down the street, toppling dustbins and anything else in his path. JJ leapt them nonchalantly and, moving with the deadly precision of a cheetah close on the tail of a gazelle continued on the chase.

  Dallion ran as fast as he could through the moving traffic with a heart filled with fear; every stride he took, his heart pounded harder and harder in his chest.  JJ bobbed and weaved through the fast-moving traffic equally as confident as Dallion, and continued the chase while ignoring the drivers who stopped their vehicles and blew their horns, before unleashing a barrage of insults toward them.

  Dallion turned into an alley that led to the flats the home stretch only to find the exit blocked by roadworks.

Suddenly he froze in his tracks, heart racing, with no way out except back past JJ, he hatched a quick plan and went back to the corner to time JJ with a sucker punch as he rounded the corner.

  JJ dodged the punch nonchalantly, before drawing his gun; as Dallion saw the gun come up, he instantly grabbed the barrel of it, as to stop the gun from firing, and the two men fought as they had never fought before. Before JJ overpowered him and gun butted him square in the forehead, knocking him out cold.

***

Angelina’s body moved in perfect rhythm atop of Ryan’s, moaning and groaning as waves of ecstasy pulsed through her. Her hands pressed his shoulders into the bed, her mind, body, and soul syncing with his, lost in the momentum and heat of the moment. Every nerve ending seemed alive, tingling, her body throbbed with sensations she hadn’t felt in years.

  Suddenly, the shrill ring of the phone shattered the spell. She froze mid-motion, heart pounding, and snatched the device from the bedside table. Jenny’s name flashed on the screen. She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and answered, still breathless.

  “Aw, Jenny… did you have to call right now?” she groaned, voice drowsy.

  “Not another one of those sexy dreams again, was it?”

  Jenny’s grin crackled through the line, her excitement palpable as she sat in the back of her chauffeur-driven car on the way to work.

  Angelina propped herself up on her elbows, pulling the quilt around her shoulders. “The best one yet girl, so whatever you’re coming with now, had better be bloody good girl I’m telling you!”

  Jenny laughed, and practically vibrating with excitement shouted out. “I did it, girl! I did it!”

  The chauffeur glanced nervously at the back seat, unsure of what had sparked Jenny’s explosive outburst.

  “Did what?” Angelina asked, curiosity overriding her drowsiness.

  “Got two VIP tickets to ‘Eternals’ their biggest fashion show event of the year, baby!”

  Angelina’s eyes widened. “Wow! And guess what?”

  “What?” she asked, curling further under the quilt?

  “You’re coming with me.”

  A hesitant frown crossed Angelina’s face. “Aw… I don’t know about that, Jen.”

  “What do you mean, you don’t know?!” Jenny snapped, flipping through some photographs of high end jewellery, as she leaned forward over her briefcase which was stuffed with her latest fashion line accessories. “I’m not ready for all that stuff yet,” Angelina shot back, at her in a sharp tone of voice.

Jenny ignored the protest, her voice booming into the phone. “Listen, my girl, I don’t want to hear any more of that rubbish! You’ve been divorced for over a year now; it’s time to start living again!”

Angelina straightened, spine stiff as a ramrod, ready to argue her point. “Listen here! I know, but I ain’t…”

Click.

The line went dead.

  “Jenny! Jenny!” She yelled into the phone, panic rising, but there was no response. “And the same to you too!” She cried out in frustration, as she slammed the phone down too.

***

  As JJ and Dallion stumbled into the warehouse, battered and bruised, Calum and Yabba stopped chopping up the weed. They rose from around the table and looked at JJ quizzically, before nodding to him as a mark of respect.

  “I thought you said you’d be about twenty minutes, J,” Calum said, more statement like, as he and Yabba crossed to where JJ and Dallion stood.

  “They should have named this one Stallion instead of Dallion, the way he can run,” JJ replied, shoving Dallion towards Calum.

Calum looked him up and down with frost in his gaze.

  “Well, well, well look what the cats dragged in, ay. One big old dirty rat who deserves one big old dirty slap.” The hand came up with a smack that lifted Dallion clean off his feet and sent him crashing to the floor. Yabba screamed,

  “Ooooo,” in shock feeling Dallion’s pain.

Calum leaned over, menacing. “Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, where’s our money, you dirty little shit?”

  Before Dallion could answer, Calum grabbed the fabric of his shirt and yanked him upright. “I was just getting the res…” Dallion stammered, but Calum let fly with a wicked right hook to the jaw. JJ and Yabba winced.

  “Wrong answer, you stinking little shit,” Calum snarled, dropping the shirt and clamping a hand round Dallion’s throat. His grip tightened until Dallion’s eyes bulged. “You like to play games, ay?” Calum hissed, staring manically into his face. “Let’s see how you like playing my little game. Cally’s little game.” He pushed him back; JJ shoved him further toward Yabba, who clotheslined him hard.

  Dallion hit the floor like a sack of potatoes. For a few seconds he didn’t know where he was. When he snapped back and saw JJ, Calum, and Yabba towering over him, he scrambled into a corner seeking cover.

  Calum and Yabba closed in, bad intentions clear. Dallion backed into the wall, chest heaving, and screamed a blood-chilling, desperate wail. “Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!” As they moved in and rained down brutal kicks and punches on his body.

***

  The evening wind had turned cool and calm, though DC Miller felt anything but calm as she stood on the pavement, acting the part of a prostitute to draw in the punters.

  She loved much of the variety her job in the Metropolitan Police Vice Squad brought, every operation different, but this part she never liked. She did it well because it was part of the work. With a practiced bit of sass she wiggled her ass, chewed her gum, pushed up her tits, and prowled the street like she was the best hooker in town.

  She glanced into windscreens, eyes locking with drivers as they rolled past. A dark saloon eased up beside her. She stopped and studied the clean-cut, middle-aged white man who rolled the passenger window down. Here we go again, she thought.

  “What you saying, baby?” He asked in a smooth, elegant voice.

  “Anything you like, sugar,” she purred, leaning on the roof to give him a good view.

  Unseen, DC Anderson and DC Watts watched from their cars, listening through the mic hidden in Miller’s lapel. Watts had the radio at his lips, ready.

  “What can I get for fifty pounds?” the punter asked.

  “Tell me what you want,” Miller replied, voice low and sultry.

  “Straight sex,” he said the glint in his eye obvious.

  At once, she scratched her head as that was the signal for when she had been offered money for sex.  Instantly DC Watts picked up on the signal and shouted into the police radio, “All cars! It’s a go! Go! Go! I repeat. It’s a go! Go! Go! Go!” Within the blinking of an eye, the police cars zoomed into action, blocking them in from all different directions.

  The punter recoiled in shock as DC Miller opened his car door and began yanking him out. 

  “Blood klart!” One pretty-looking black woman shouted out in a deep masculine voice as his wig flew off, revealing a bald head, as he flew past the rest of the fleeing prostitutes as they bolted for their lives.

  “Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!” the terrified punter screamed as the other officers arrived and gave her assistance.

  “Spread ’em!” Miller shouted as DC Litchfield threw him against the wall and began to search him.

***

  Tommy walked down the road, phone to his ear, carrying a black holdall. He stopped outside an auto garage, key in hand. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, mate… all in place,” he said to John. As he put the key in the lock and turned the key,

  ‘click’ the key snapped in the lock.

  “Flipping hell, John, the ruddy keys busted in the lock!” he exclaimed.

  “Flaming heck, Tommo, can’t you do anything right? Jump the gates and get the job done!” John barked back, impatiently.

  Tommy checked the street, saw no one, tossed the bag over the gate, and vaulted it. He didn’t notice the two black men watching from within a jeep with blacked-out windows parked across the road from the garage.

  Calum and Yabba watched Tommy jump into the garage, and squeeze between a few cars, unlocked a boot, put the bag in, locked it, and leave the same way he came in. As he walked off smiling to himself and turned out of sight.

  Calum and Yabba quickly exited their vehicle ran across the road, and jumped the gates, and made their way over to the car with the bag in it.

  When Tommy turned the corner of the high street and walked down the street, he started smiling to himself.

  He remembered Jenny and some of the antics they had gotten up to. His smiling face quickly turned to confusion as he reached into his pocket to get his phone and realized it wasn’t there. At once, he stopped in his tracks and frantically started searching himself.

  Realizing that his phone wasn’t in his pocket, he turned around and started quickly walking back to the garage.

  “Yabba, see if you can find me something else to force the lock open with,” Calum said, realizing that the little iron bar he was using to force the car boot open wasn’t strong enough.  “Okay,” Yabba replied, still in shock from what was happening, as he turned and went one way to look for something, and Calum turned and went the other way in search of something as well.  

  While they were both looking around, all of a sudden, they both heard footsteps approaching the garage.

  Instantly, they stopped, and both bent down to hide.

  Suddenly, their hearts started pounding in their chests.

  They looked through the assortment of cars and saw Tommy standing at the railings. Tommy slowly searched every nook and cranny he could with his eyes for his phone before jumping the gate and retracing his steps.

  Eyes to the ground he scanned every inch of the path he had walked, he felt relief wash him as he saw his phone on the floor under one of the cars.

  Smiling with relief, he bent down and picked up the phone. As he picked it up, wiped it off, checked the caller's display window, and started heading back to the gates, he put the phone in his pocket, grabbed the top of the gates, and started pulling himself up to get over it.

  Suddenly, he heard a phone ring behind him in the yard. At once, with breakneck speed, Tommy snapped his head back in shock, searching with his eyes and ears for where the sound was coming from. Bending even lower, Yabba frantically fought with the phone from inside his pocket, trying to mask the sound while trying to turn the device off.

  The next thing Yabba knew was, Tommy was all over him like a rash, with two straight rights to his face, Yabba was shocked and dazed by the punches before his instinct took over, and he yanked Tommy onto a vicious head butt and an instant knee in the balls. 

  Tommy never knew what had hit him as he saw flashes of black and white and felt the excruciating pain between his legs as he bent over to fall to the floor.

Like lightning, Tommy’s instincts also took over, and he brought his head up forcefully and purposefully and caught Yabba squarely under the chin.

  Yabba staggered back helplessly blinded by the blow;

  Tommy moved in purposely for the kill and unleashed a wicked straight right to Yabba’s left jaw corner;

Before the punch landed, all Tommy heard in his head was bang!

  Calum struck him on the head with a wheel brace.

Tommy froze in mid-action, as his world went black before he fell to the floor dead.

  “Blood klart!” Calum cried out in shock, realizing Tommy was dead. Instantly, he felt Tommy’s neck for a pulse as he watched the blood slowly begin to seep out of Tommy’s head, ears, nose, and mouth. “He’s dead, Yabba,” Calum whispered silently, bringing Yabba back to his senses.

  “Let’s move, Cee!” Yabba insisted.

  “No, bruv, let’s get the bag first,” Calum countered, then continued with more than just a hint of fear in his voice.   “Quickly help me find the keys.”

At once, the two men quickly started searching Tommy’s pockets. Calum found the keys and put them in his pocket before grabbing Tommy’s legs and gesturing for Yabba to hold his arms.

  Instantly, Yabba grabbed his arms, and they dragged him to the car that they were trying to break into.

  When Calum put the key in the lock and turned it, the lock would not respond from where he had tried to force it open with the iron bar earlier. “Bloody hell!” Calum cried out in frustration as he kept wiggling and turning the key in the lock.

  Then, all of a sudden, he heard a click, and the lock opened, and then the boot lid flew up, revealing the black holdall bag. Calum quickly took the bag out and put it on the floor, before they lifted Tommy and threw him in the boot where the bag was.

  As an afterthought, Calum grabbed the car keys from the lock, wiped them clean with his jumper sleeve, and threw them into the boot, too.

  “Wipe down the boot, bruv, while I get the wheel brace and wipe down the gates.”

  “Alright,”   Yabba whispered inaudibly as he started wiping down the boot.

VOLATILE DIGITAL PASS 

The book, also acts as your Digital Pass to enjoy priority access to VOLATILE updates, opportunities and audition information. Get your book, email your interest info@reellifecollective.com and your journey from reader to the screen starts here.

FILM • PUBLISHING • TALENT